The present invention is directed to a splice carrier for light waveguide cables whereby a plurality of splice carriers can be inserted into a cable sleeve to form a splice connection wherein each of the individual carriers contains a device for supporting the splices between individual light waveguides and devices for supporting excess lengths of each of the waveguides being spliced together.
A light waveguide carrier, which is positioned in a cable sleeve and supports the excess lengths of light waveguides and the splice between the two waveguides is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 269,871, filed June 3, 1981, which application was based on German patent application P No. 30 25 700. In the disclosed arrangement, the cable sleeve for the light waveguide cables, which are to have the waveguides spliced together, also receive an excess length of each of the waveguides on plug-in plates or carrier plates for the individual groups or bundles of light waveguides, which carrier plates are spaced out to extend basically parallel to each other in the cable sleeve. Each of these individual carrier plates contains means for supporting the splices between the waveguides and also the excess length of the waveguide. With such an arrangement, the accessibility of the individual splices to light waveguides supported on each plate is essentially only achieved when, after removing the housing of the cable sleeve, each of the cable connections is folded open.
Another possibility of increasing accessibility would be achieved if the light waveguide cables or bundles which are conducted to each of the plug-in plates or carrier plates were already introduced with an excess length outside of the carrier plate and this excess length is stored in the housing of the cable sleeve. This type of arrangement is generally indicated by a cable sleeve or system indicated at 25 and schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. In the system 25, an incoming cable 2 has bundles 10 and an outgoing cable 3 has bundles 9. The bundles 9 and 10 are connected to opposite ends of a carrier plate 1 so that the individual waveguides 4 can be spliced together by a splice or connection 5. As illustrated in the Figure, the individual bundles 9 and 10 of waveguides are fanned or opened up around an axis 6 for the incoming and outgoing cables 2 and 3. Due to the excess length of the bundles such as 9 and 10, the carrer 1 can be moved in the direction of arrow 7 to a position shown by carrier 1' with the bundles 9 and 10 being moved to the position of the bundles 9' and 10' illustrated in dashed lines. As is clear from this illustration, the bundles of the light waveguides which are provided in the cable sleeve adjacent to each of the splice carriers will require significant space in the cable sleeve for the excess length of each of the bundles 9 and 10, which length is necessary to enable removal of each of the splice carriers. Given such an arrangement, the bundles of the light waveguides must be supplied to each of the splice carriers proceeding from both sides so that the excess length required for movement is available to enable moving the splice carrier from the inserted position in the cable sleeve to the extended position without danger of buckling of the waveguides.